The use of domestic appliances by cognitively impaired users

Domestic appliances, especially those that are complex and unfamiliar, may bewilder older adults suffering cognitive decline in attention, perceptual encoding, memory cueing and recall, and self-efficacy. Successful use of technology depends on a user's mental model of operation. For older adults, transfer of understanding from similar, more familiar technologies can help their encoding of new mental models for unfamiliar devices. Leveraging established mental models provides affordances for new devices, but may constrain discovery and use of advanced functionality. Interference from existing mental models may also affect development of newer, more fitting mental models or interaction behaviour. Extending the cognitive abilities of older adults through adaptive product design provides opportunity to sustain their independence in the home. Empirical evidence from gerontology studies and concepts from human factors and cognitive psychology are reviewed to explain age-related behaviour towards technology and to open discussion on focused product design.